Monthly Archives: June 2011

Thu 30th June 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Domain Investor Brian Wick Sells Minus.com For $115,000 - Domain investor Brian Wick has sold the domain name, Minus.com for $115,000. Brian said he acquired the domain in January 2007 at a Network Solution pre-drop auction for $8,100. So basically a 15x return in just 4 years, in a horrible economy. The buyer according to Mr. Wick is the buyer is a “math educational non-profit startup” but the whois record has the domain under privacy. In any event its a nice price for that domain and a hell of a return. Congrats to the Brian and the Buyer.     Google+Michael ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
The Next Big Battle For Online Business; Sales Tax; California Becomes Latest State To Tax Online Sales & Amazon Cuts Affiliates Off - According to the Los Angeles Times a new California state law will require large out-of-state retailers like Amazon to collect sales taxes on purchases that their California customers make online.” In response, Amazon and Overstock.com plan to cease paying commissions to California Internet marketing affiliates for referrals. “About 25,000 affiliates live in California, especially larger ones with dozens of employees, are likely to leave the state, said Rebecca Madigan, executive director ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Now That Justin Timberlake Is Part Owner Of MySpace.com What Does That Mean For .Music - .Music is expected to be one of the most sort after new gTLD’s with mulitple applicants already having come forward. So now that Justin Timberlake is part of the group that bought MySpace.com for $35 Million dollars and the new owners seem to be gearing the site towards all things music, what effect will today’s purchase on the new gTLD .Music? The Sydney Morning Herald writes today: “”When we met with Justin and we discussed what our strategy was, we hit a chord with him,” Vanderhook ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Full Tilt Poker License Is Suspended & Ordered To Suspend All Operations Worldwide - According to PokerNews.com, The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) the jurisdiction under which Full Tilt Poker is licensed under,  suspended the license of Full Tilt Poker today and ordered it to suspend all operations, which resulted shortly thereafter in all games on Full Tilt worldwide to come to a sudden halt. The AGCC released the following statement on the matter: “Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) has today issued Hearing Notices under Regulation 46 of its Regulations ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domaining.com’s CAX.com to Start Rewarding Bidders - Early bidders will earn cash back. Francois Carrillo, the guy behind Domaining.com, is getting ready to launch a new cash back program for bidding on his CAX.com domain marketplace. The program will reward both the initial bidder in an auction and the second highest bidder with 2% of the sales price. For example, if you are the first bidder and three people bid in an auction but you don’t win, you’ll get 2% of the sales price. If you’re the first bidder in an ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Finally a Good UDRP Finds Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - Australian company uses UDRP in bad faith. I’m kind of upset lately over panels not finding reverse domain name hijacking, so let me applaud the three person panel in a case over Futuris.com. The panel found Australia-based Futuris Automotive Interiors guilty of reverse domain name hijacking. Even more shocking: Andrew Christie was a member of the panel. Futuris Automotive Interiors certainly has trademarks for Futuris, but for the automotive industry. The issue ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Lazy Panelist Alert: This Should Have Been Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - WIPO panelist doesn’t bother to consider a sure-fire reverse domain name hijacking claim. I realize UDRP panelists aren’t paid much to handle cases, but there must be a minimum standard here. Why the frustration? Take a look at the recently decided case for Cite.com. The owner of the domain name registered it in 1997 and started a business called Cité Consulting. The complainant Systemware, Inc. didn’t start using the term “CITE” in commerce until 2011. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Amazon: Kindle Beats Nook - Amazon registers domain name flouting recent Consumer Reports rankings. Earlier this month Consumer Reports released updated eBook reader ratings, declaring “Nook beats Kindle“. That certainly didn’t go well with Jeff Bezos. So the company just registered the domain name KindleBeatsNook.com. When it comes to domain names, perhaps Consumer Reports should give Amazon a higher rating than Barnes Noble. After all, no one (yet) has registered NookBeatsKindle.com. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
It’s Time for a National Discussion on Sales Tax - Amazon cans its California affiliates. California loses, affiliates lose. It’s time for a bigger discussion. Yesterday a couple California readers forwarded a message from Amazon.com saying that, should their governor sign in to law a new so-called “affiliate tax”, their participation in the Amazon Associated program would be terminated. Hours later they received a message saying the bill was signed and they’ve been kicked out of the program. I’ve written ... read more ...
Wed 29th June 2011
Written by The Domains in EN
Breaking: MySpace.com Bought For $580 In Million in 2005, Sold Today For Between $30-$40 Million - According to the Wall Street Journal News Corp. which bought MySpace.com for $580 Million in 2005, has just sold it to Specific Media, in a deal valuing the site between $30 million and $40 million, with News Corp. retaining a small stake. According to the Journal, Specific Media helps marketers buy digital ads across the Web, online video, mobile and TV. The company was founded in 1999 is based in Irvine, Calif and its owned by three brothers Tim, Chris and Russell Vanderhook. MySpace.com just ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Sedo.com Clarifies The Sale Of WellnessFinder.com Sold For 300,000 Euro’s; But It Was A Site Not A Domain - As previously reported the Sedo.com the brokered the sale of WellnessFinder.com for 300,000 euro‘s Sedo.com own site as late as today was still showing the sale at 150,000 Euro’s. Last week I wrote about the domain selling for 150,000 Euro’s but when the weekly Sedo report came out the other day the price was listed as 300,000 Euro’s So I reached out to Sedo.com who clarified that the sales price was indeed 300,000 euro’s, but that what was sold was a website not just a domain name, so ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Lens.com Fights Back Trademark Infringement Charges & Files Suit Against 1800Contacts Over Keyword Advertising - According to MediaPost.com, Lens.com filed suit against 1800Contacts alleging they are violating antitrust laws and engaging in “vexatious and sham” litigation by suing 15 competitors over their paid search campaigns. This an interesting case as 1800contacts has been according to the suit suing and threating competitors who buy keyword advertising under their trademark, a practice courts have upheld time and time again in suits against the search engines who sell the ads. “This lawsuit is ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
When a Business Relationship Goes Sour, Make Sure You Own a Domain Name - Another lawsuit shows that domain names are important intellectual property. I’ve written numerous times about web design companies holding a client’s domain name hostage. Here’s another cautionary tale about domain name ownership. A Florida company called StableTracker.com, Inc says that its former outsourced tech team has stolen its intellectual property and its domain name (pdf). StableTracker.com, Inc. says it contracted with the (now) defendants to perform ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Owner of Somedia.com Forced to Spend Thousands Defending Domain Name - UDRP was a waste of time and money. Here’s another example of a UDRP case that should have never been filed. A social media marketing firm that apparently just came into existence (or at least started using its brand) in 2010 filed a case against the owner of a domain registered in 2001. Somedia Solutions, Inc., represented by Kurt D. Olender of OlenderFeldman LLP, filed the case against the owner of Somedia.com. The complainant uses the domain name SomediaSolutions.com. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Short Application Period Spurs Artificial Demand for .Brand TLDs - Three month window means lots of companies will apply for .brand under pressure. It may have been Google that made in mainstream. It’s the idea of a closed beta. Remember clamoring for a Gmail invite? Or perhaps begging for an invite to Google Wave, which you had no idea what the heck it was? Now Google+? A similar thing is going on with new top level domain names, especially for .brand domain names. But this time it’s time based, like saying if you don’t ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Neustar Offers $10k a Year .Brand Domain Names - A dormant .brand domain for $10,000 a year (plus ICANN fees). Domain name registry Neustar has created a new package for companies wishing to get their own .brand top level domain names. Called the “Brand Assurance Package” (pdf), it’s a bare bones solution that seems to be geared to companies that may want to get a .brand but have no idea if they’ll ever do anything with it. For $10,000 a year, Neustar guarantees companies will “meet ICANN specifications ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domainers Will Love This UDRP Decision - Panelist respects the limited scope of UDRP. The UDRP, a quick and inexpensive dispute resolution policy for cybersquatting, is limited in scope. But over time some panelists have tried to make it more of a court, bending the lines to find in favor of complainants even when it’s not a clear-cut case of cybersquatting. Which is why I find William R. Towns’ decision in a recent case so refreshing. Ticket Software LLC, which operates a site at TicketNetwork.com, ... read more ...
Tue 28th June 2011
Written by The Domains in EN
Afternic.com Sells $695k In Domains Led By SellCar.com For $26k - Afternic.com just released its sales for the week ending Sunday June 26th. All reportable domain sales $1k and over totalled $695,523. The top seller of the week was SellCar.com at $26,056 followed by MonarchMortgage.com and Yearbook.org – each selling for $15,000. Here is the complete list of sales:   Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
CNBC: Zynga To File For IPO As Early As Tomorrow - According to a Tweet by Kate Kelly of CNBC the gaming company Zynga will file to go public as soon as tomorrow. The company who has also been active in the domain name market and maker of some of the most popular online games including; Cityville Farmville and Rewardville according to the report will file its S-1 as early as tomorrow. At the proposed IPO price the company would be valued at $15 Billion and $20 billion. Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Sued in Oregon, Finds Itself in Florida Bankruptcy Court Case - Woman sues ICANN over expired domains; case gets snarled in Florida bankruptcy case. An impoverished woman has sued ICANN in Oregon over expired domain names, and now the non-profit finds itself having to file a brief in a Florida bankruptcy court. Denise Subramaniam sued ICANN in Oregon back in March over domain names she registered for clients that expired. She says the domain registrar became insolvent and that ICANN didn’t do a good enough job enforcing its ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
LivingSocial Discovers It Has Typosquatters - Company files several domain name disputes. Local deals site LivingSocial has finally discovered that it has typosquatters — and that there’s a relatively affordable way to get its domain names back. Earlier this month it filed its first domain name arbitration case, going against the Irish country code domain name LivingSocial.ie. Now it’s ramping up its efforts by filing three cases with National Arbitration Forum this week. Each case costs about $1500 ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
School Equipment Company Buys MarkerBoards.com and Other Sedo Sales - A review of this week’s domain sales at Sedo. Apparently my review of Afternic sales earlier today in which I showed who the buyers were struck a chord. I’d like to do the same thing with Sedo’s results, except that most of the domains are still in escrow whenever they send out their list. But I’ll try, and perhaps sometimes I’ll go back and pull in some sales from the previous week that now have updated whois information. Here’s a match made in heaven: ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
What Domain Names Bain and Other End Users Bought from Afternic This Week - A look at end user domain buyers from the past week. Afternic’s extended network of domain name sales sites brings in end users. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the company’s $600,000+ in domain sales for the past week and who the buyers were. Consulting firm Bain bought Repeatability.com for $4,000. Sounds like a strategic consulting name to me! Monarch Mortgage upgraded its domain name from MonarchMtg.com to MonarchMortgage.com ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Video Explains New TLDs to a Masses - New top level domain names in just six minutes. Last week ICANN published a video explaining what new top level domain names are and what they mean to companies and businesses that might want to apply for one. I think it does a good job of describing what new top level domains are and explains some of the challenges applicants face — including steep fees and a long wait. Of course there are many more challenges than what you can explain in a short video, but I ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Brand Management Company Says It Will Sue Over IVX.com - After losing UDRP, IVX says it will go to court for domain name. Last week I wrote about Dutch company Besloten Vennootschap IVX Networks Europe B.V. The brand management and global domain name registration company uses the domain name IVX.eu. It filed a UDRP against the owner of IVX.com and lost. An astute reader has picked up that the company tweeted it will now sue to get the domain name: shame: lost WIPO arbitration case about ivx.com domain.. Monday to sollicitor: ... read more ...